Enjoying the retired life now

[mattyIceman 1,170]

 

THE KINGS

I remember being picked up by @Motzaburger in Mexico City during the start of the S71 season, and I recall having no clue what was going on.  Team was pretty bare with actives at the time, Chris Hylands, Pietro Angellini and Matt Sovick were on that team and Jeffrey Pines joined midway through the season as a waiver pickup.  I finished highest in team scoring with 47 points that season, despite not being their best player.  We managed to get 12 wins and 28 points, good enough to finish last place.  Come around draft time, I get selected in the 3rd round by Helsinki, 26th overall.  I also get drafted by the Halifax 21st in the Dispersal Draft in the 2nd round with the 17th pick.

@hylands @okifenoki @matt sovick @rory

 

THE 21ST / THE BULLS

I join @Dil's Halifax 21st squad with Timothy Brown and Viktor Mjers, and we stay there for about 20 games tops, then we all get dealt away because the team was underperforming.  Brown went to Saskatoon, Mjers went to Mexico City and ended up retiring before the draft, while I went to a rebuilding Houston Bulls team.  That team was pretty bare as well, but they acquired through waivers some young rookies that sure made that team alot of fun.  Patrik Laine, Jiggly Gumballs, Riley Knight Gee and goalie Drew Minott lit that fire.  It was since then that I tried my best to train to the max.  We bottomed out again, with an even worse than my previous season.  We had EIGHT wins and 20 points.  Count that.  In 140 games, 20 whole victories.  The Bulls' GM at the time, Sonnet, was stepping down to assume a vacant VHLM commisioner position, so his replacement @rjfryman, was planning a run the previous season.  Seeing Helsinki's deep defensive depth and getting word from @Jubo, I assume I'll stay down to develop and participate in another season with the Bulls, but the VHL was going through a massive expansion with four teams.  I ended up getting selected by the new expansion London United team, so I decided to go up after some serious consideration.  I get to play for Team Asia in World Juniors as well, and I put up 8 points in as many games, but we finish fourth and I don't get any medals.

@a_Ferk @InstantRockstar @Laine @JigglyGumballs @KnightRiley @DreMin15

 

So my VHLM career ended there, here are my stats!

 

THE UNITED

So I join the United, and again, the team is pretty bare.  @McWolf  is a great mentor to me, and he teaches me some pretty important fundamentals to play well in the VHL.  I get to play with VHL rookies The Terrible Trivium and Jay Jones there, Guy Lesieur was selected in the expansion draft as well but he got traded back to DC for 1st round pick mid-season.  I finished with the team lead with 63 points, including 21 goals.  I also ended up tied for 5th in rookie scoring as a defenseman, but got zero Stolschweiger votes.  By this time, I'm a pretty balanced player, but I'm checking a lot more.  Got to represent Team Canada at the World Juniors this time with a pretty good team, but I don't perform nearly as well as last season, and again we don't even get a medal.  We finish near the bottom, as expected for an expansion team.  We do get 23 wins, which is in the middle of the pack for the expansion teams, but no playoffs again.  I haven't played a single playoff game at this point, but I do understand this is first year expansion franchise and we're at the ground floor.  I can only assume we go up from here.

@der meister @TTtheT @KC15

 

I'm named team captain, the first in franchise history!  However, in this season, we finish last in the league.  Not the way I want to begin my captaincy, but 26 wins and 60 points is an improvement though, just not good enough to improve any position in the standings.  Rookies Alec Volchenkov, Julian Nousiainen, Ryan Schwarz, Keith Krestanovich and goalie Nils Friedriksen join the team and we all improve our point totals.  284 games in my VHL and VHLM career and no playoffs still.  I'm beginning to get antsy but the light is seen at the end of the tunnel.

@SirRupertBarnes @okochastar @Enorama @Boragina @Biggreen10

 

In the offseason, I sign a 3 season deal with the United.  S75 saw some big shakeups.  Big trades were being made to improve the team in the short term, and hopefully see our first playoff appearance.  Erik Killinger and Chad Magnum came in from Toronto and Hugh Jass was dealt to us from New York.  Rookies Kasper Kankkunen and goalie Kevin Malone rounded out our young roster and we had our best season yet.  38 wins and 82 points.  I saw some regression after modifying my training regime, I was fed up of taking so many penalties, feeling it cost my team.  I hit alot less, was more focused on my defensive game and fundamentals, as well as trying to create more scoring chances.  I did play deeper in the lineup now since Killinger and Jass were more seasoned vets, but I accepted my role.  We lose out to Moscow in the wildcard round, here's hoping with our core intact we can push harder next season.

@Peace @TheFlash @Corco  @16z @WentzKneeFan036

 

S76 was a weird season.  NOTHING WORKED.  Nothing clicked.  We were abysmal.  26 wins and 64 points, almos a carbon-copy of two seasons earlier.  Ryan Schwarz and Jay Jones were dealt to the Moscow Menace in the offseason for picks that never ended up playing a game for us.  Rookie Nathan Perry was a bright spot for us, as well as veteran Kevin King, who did come join us midway through the season via trade, but his point-per-game help wasn't enough to help us out of the hole we put ourselves in.  Everything just went horribly wrong in this season, and unfortunately, with only one season left on my contract, I'm dealt to Riga for a 1st round pick.  Got to play in my first World Cup with the Mercenaries, and we take everyone by surprise, winning a Gold medal.

@tinafrombobsburgers @IamMOOSE

 

THE REIGN

Honestly, I'm excited to join the Riga Reign.  I've played against them so many times and was impressed with their legacy and their young team, but the previous season they mysteriously tanked hard.  They kinda suffered the same fate as London did, probably the reason they wanted my veteran presence around them, even though I'm beginning to show age and regression.  @hedgehog337 has alot of hopes for this team this season, but we came out of the gates pretty slow and barely improved throughout the season.  I never asked for a trade out of Riga, wanting to show positive character and presence to see things through, but Helsinki pulled the trigger and made a deal to acquire me from Riga for their playoff push.  I only managed to play 38 games for Riga, but I did get 33 points for them.  It was fun getting to play with vets like Ray Sheilds and General Zod, as well as young guns like Cabe McJake, Linus Zetterstrom and Addison McLaren, but it wasn't meant to last apparently.

@Zetterberg @Matt_O @Red @Ledge and Dairy @tcookie

 

THE TITANS

So I'm back to play for the team I was originally drafted by, and reunited with my old pal from my Houston days, Patrik Laine.  In S72, Helsinki did draft Valtteri Vaakanainen and goalie Zamboni Driver as well as myself, so it was cool to meet up with my draftmates at the time.  This roster is pretty stacked and the compete level is high.  In the second half of the season, I get 26 points, but only 3 goals on 100 shots, so it wasn't like I wasn't trying!  I ended the season with 59 points, my second worst production-wise, but it's my second go at the playoffs and at my old age at this point, I felt I had to make the most of it.  We storm through the first round, taking out my former team, the London United in 6 games.  The conference final, we took out Warsaw in 7 games, and I got the winning goal in Game 7.  I'll never forget that goal, it was probably the most iconic goal of my career, and it was the perfect time to score that goal.  We fall to the Seattle Bears in five games in the final, and I thought I'll never get that close again.  My contract is up and there's a GM change in the offseason, so I decide to test free agency for the first time in my aging career.  Had to say farewell to many great players on that team, as it underwent an offseason overhaul.  I had a few teams like Prague, Calgary and Moscow asking for my availability, but I wanted another shot at the Continental Cup.  I was still on the fence about retiring  in the upcoming season or the next, so when the Seattle Bears came calling, I was happy to oblige.

@Tape-to-Tape

 

THE BEARS

@Banackock had put together a formidable pitch to sign me to a one-season deal and make another run to repeat as Cup champs, so I join this very deep team of Cup champs.  They added a disgruntled Kasper Kankkunen, my former teammate from London, who wasn't enjoying his role in London, also added Venus Thightrap, my teammate from Helsinki in free agency.  I'm also reunited with Timothy Brown, my old teammate from Halifax too.  With players like Rara Rasputin, Leo Strauss, Isabella Campbell, Marshall James Frostbeard, Lucifer Olivier Leveque and Hex Rose (not my brother or relative in any way) to name a few, we had the team to repeat.  We finish third in the league with 45 wins and 97 points, so close to winning a Victory Cup.  I also had my most productive season, finally getting over a point per game with 82 points.  I did choose to announce my retirement midseason, feeling the age and realizing I probably wouldn't have the ability to repeat another season of success.  My agent MattyIce already signed his new client Matty Fire and I've made enough money and invested well, so I can retire at my peak.  During the playoffs, I played the best I could, knowing it was my swan song.  I really wanted a Cup, that badly.  We took out Calgary in a long and difficult seven games, they really put up an awesome fight.  Got to play against Nathan Perry, another former teammate from London, so I got to chat with him at the end of game 7 too.  We beat up on Chicago in 4 quick games, but we fell to Warsaw in the final in only 5 games.  I was really tired but still giving it my all that series, I even got the most points on my team to show for it, but it wasn't enough.  I got close twice and that was a real heartbreaker.  I even hoped that I could unwittingly have a shot at a Daisuke Kanou trophy, but I got no votes, but their forwards were elite against us.  I got a second shot at a World Cup medal with the Mercenaries as well, but we didn't get too far.  I just wasn't motivated anymore, I was completely gassed...

@BladeMaiden @Victor @gregreg @FrostBeard @Hex Universe

 

I knew I made the right choice to retire. 

 

After the tournament, I returned to my residence in London for a short while, then headed to my vacation home in the Cayman Islands, which is where I am currently.  It's been a fun career for the most part, I've played against alot of people and made some friends, and if you haven't gotten a mention in here, don't think you've been forgotten.

 

Thanks for everything, but it's time to move on.

 

Here are some more stats that I put up.  I don't think I was a bad 26th overall pick, right?

 

 

2000 words, 4 weeks

Claim 1

[diacope 2 764]

3 hours ago, MattyIce said:

I join @Dil's Halifax 21st squad with Timothy Brown and Viktor Mjers, and we stay there for about 20 games tops, then we all get dealt away because the team was underperforming.  Brown went to Saskatoon, Mjers went to Mexico City and ended up retiring before the draft, while I went to a rebuilding Houston Bulls team.

Man, can't believe how long ago that was now. Last May or something like that

[der meister 3,122]

Enjoy retirement, Captain.

[Laine 1,361]

Was a great career @MattyIce! Was happy to be on a team with you along the way! Enjoy retirement you beaut!

[BladeMaiden 1,807]

@MattyIce i was with you in Helsinki too so happy to see you enjoyed a very successful and fun career! Know you’ll continue to kill it

[mattyIceman 1,170]

Claim 2

[mattyIceman 1,170]

Claim 3

[Kisslinger 369]

10/10

Great article and congrats on the career! This article is super easy to follow and is formatted nicely, the pictures of the stats makes the article flow nicely. I love how you have parts remembered from each stage of your players career. great job on the article!

[mattyIceman 1,170]

Claim 4, final